Born of Blood
by Magical Words of Writing
Summary: A MistClan kit is taken to HalfClan when her mother dies from an early kitting. Bloodkit is raised with no knowledge of her birth clan; shunned by most for her shady past and strange name, she finds solace in a darker forest...
1. Prologue

**AN: Yes, yes, I know 'blood' is unusual, but please don't kill me for it! Btw, I don't own warriors. If I did, they wouldn't have started using their paws to pick things up! **

**Allegiances will be in the next chapter.**

A frantic tom crouched over a she-cat, desperately licking her pale fur. The moon had risen, casting an eerie light over the marsh lands. The she-cat gasped and her sides rippled.  
"Fishfur!" the tom cried. "Don't give up! I'm sure Darkshine is on his way here! Just stay strong until he gets here!"  
Fishfur heaved a few more ragged breaths and a bundle of fur slid out onto the coarse grass. Two more followed, one after the other. "Rockfall," Fishfur gasped, "our…kits…"  
Rockfall quickly began licked the three tiny kits, but stopped after a few licks. He sniffed them, and turned remorsefully back to his mate. "Fishfur…they're dead."  
"No…" the she-cat gasped and cried out as a final kit struggled free. A riverlet of blood followed it, pooling around all four, but the last one squealed and kicked. Rockfall rushed over and licked water and blood from it's fur. Picking it up very carefully by it's scruff, he took it to where his tired mate could see it.  
"It's a girl," he murmured. Fishfur pushed herself forward to sniff her kit.  
"She's alive," she breathed. "Oh, Rockfall, look at her; she's perfect…" Her head fell back and her eyes began to glaze over. Rockfall let out a whimper and lapped at the she-cat's blue-gray fur.  
"Fishfur! Fishfur, no!" he yowled. "You're perfect! I don't need the kits, Fishfur, I only need you!"  
He fell silent and buried his nose in her fur to catch her fading scent. His life was over; Fishfur was gone. But then a squeak at his paws brought him back from despair and he looked down at the kit. She was a pretty silver tabby, with features similar to Fishfur. Anger and pain raked through him at the sight of the tiny kit, alive while his beautiful mate was dead. He could hardly bring himself to look at her, but picked her up and started padding through the marshes toward the MistClan camp. Then her stopped and considered for a moment. A heartbeat passed and he redirected his pawsteps towards the border. Luckily, he wasn't far from it, and soon entered into HalfClan territory. The mossy ground and tall trees that thrived here made him nervous, accustomed as he was to the open skies of the marsh.  
"Who are you?" a voice hissed from the roots of a tree. A sleek, gold she-cat emerged from the gnarled shadows. Her hazel eyes regarded him hostilely.  
"Why are you here?" a second voice, this one much more threatening, came from Rockfall's other side. A big black tom, almost invisible, sat at the base of a sapling. Rockfall set his kit on the moss to reply.  
"I am bringing you a kit," a meowed, forcing himself not to growl. The she-cat's eyes shone with interest.  
"A kit, you say?" She padded forward to sniff at the small scrap of fur at Rockfall's paws.  
"Flamepelt!" the tom hissed. He hurriedly joined her, eyeing Rockfall warily. "We will escort you to our camp," he growled. Rockfall dipped his head in agreement and picked up the kit. Flamepelt padded beside him, nose twitching, while the black tom went before them.  
"Who was her mother?" the golden she-cat meowed unexpectedly. Rockfall looked at her in surprise. By her tone, he could tell that she knew the kit's mother was no more. "Toms don't usually bring their kits here the night of their birth," she explained softly. "And I smell blood."  
Rockfall twitched his tail but did not answer. Why should he tell these half-breeds about his Fishfur, his beautiful, perfect Fishfur?  
"We're here," the black tom meowed from ahead. Rockfall glanced up and saw that they were standing at the entrance to a grove of trees. Shallow pools lay here and there around the HalfClan camp, surrounding leafy dens and a small boulder that rested, half buried, in the moss on the far side.  
"The nursery's this way," Flamepelt meowed gently. She padded towards a holly bush on the far side of the camp, near the boulder. As Rockfall approached, his ears picked up the mewling of hungry kits and their mothers tired voice as she shifted to give them milk.  
Flamepelt paused in the entrance, looking back at him for a long moment. Then she slipped all the way in, disappearing among the leaves. Rockfall hesitated for only a moment. He shouldered his way in and dropped the kit he'd been carrying in the moss. She hit the nest with a squeal. The nursing queen raised her head sharply with a hiss.  
"He's brought his kit to us, Mossfur," Flamepelt whispered softly. "I was wondering if you could care for it."  
Mossfur's hackles lay flat and she stretched her head forward to sniff the kit. Gently, she nudged her forward until she could suckled from her belly alongside the rest of the kits. Her green eyes turned upward to Rockfall. "She's a beautiful kit," she meowed. "What's her name?"  
Rockfall was about to flick his tail and tell the queen that the kit didn't need a name, when he remembered the blood that poured out of Fishfur as she struggled to bring the final kit into the world.  
He turned to go. "Bloodkit," he meowed. "Her name is Bloodkit."

**AN: R&R please!**


	2. Alligences

**AN: Allegiances! Oh, and btw, if anyone was wondering, I'll explain about HalfClan soon! 0_-**

**CloudClan**

**Leader: **Swiftstar- tawny brown she-cat

**Deputy: **Shadowhawk- dark tabby tom

**Medicine Cat: **Snowpelt- Ginger and white tom

**Warriors:**

Graywing- white she-cat with gray spots

Acornpelt- fluffy brown tabby tom

Tigerstep- light brown tabby she-cat with white paws

**Apprentice: Cloverpaw**

Spiderspots- lanky spotted tom

Redtooth- ginger and white tom

**Apprentice: Brindlepaw**

Mothear- mottled brown she-car with big ears

Ashwhisper- dark gray she-cat

Dewflower- white she-cat with brown paws

**Apprentice: Honeypaw**

**Apprentices:**

Cloverpaw- white she-cat with gray flecks

Brindlepaw- brown and white tom

Honeypaw- gold and white she-cat

**Queens:**

Kestrelwing- mottled light brown she-cat **Mate: Redtooth**

**Elders:**

Pricklepelt- tortoiseshell tom

**MistClan**

**Leader: **Silverstar- broad-shouldered silver tabby she-cat

**Deputy: **Pinefur- ginger-red tom

**Medicine Cat: **Darkshine- dark gray tom with bright amber eyes

**Warriors:**

Grassblade- brown tabby she-cat with striking green eyes

Rockfall- spotted gray tom

**Apprentice: Skypaw**

Runningsoul- dappled gray tom

Puddlewhisker- tortoiseshell tom

**Apprentice: Cherrypaw**

Sorrelpelt- calico she-cat

Hollypool- black and white she-cat with bright hazel eyes

**Apprentice Brackenpaw**

Mudclaw- dark brown tabby tom

Nightfur- pretty black she-cat

**Apprentice: Sparrowpaw**

**Apprentices:**

Cherrypaw- ginger she-cat

Skypaw- gray tabby she-cat

Brackenpaw- bracken-colored tom

Sparrowpaw- fluffy blue-gray and white tabby tom

**Queens:**

Frostleaf- white she-cat with blue eyes **Mate: Mudclaw**

Kits- Leopardkit, Foxkit, Harekit

**Elders:**

Owlclaw- large black tom

**LightningClan**

**Leader: **Otterstar- dark brown she-cat

**Deputy: **Patchpad- patchy brown and black she-cat with white underbelly

**Medicine Cat: **Mallowstreak- cream-colored tom

**Warriors:**

Gorsenose- gorse-colored tom

Lionpelt- fluffy ginger tom

Crowtalon- small gray tom

**Apprentice: Robinpaw**

Leafshadow- tortoiseshell she-cat

Birchheart- cream-colored she-cat

Aspenstrype- brown and white tom

Juniperthorn- black and gray she-cat

**Apprentice: Pebblepaw**

Jayflight- dark gray tom

**Apprentices:**

Robinpaw- calico she-cat

Pebblepaw- dark gray she-cat

**Queens:**

Yewfang- dull gray queen with blue eyes

Weedwhisker- dappled gray queen **Mate: Aspenstrype**

**Elders:**

Russetnose- tawny gray tom

Swallowstep- brown tabby she-cat

**HalfClan**

**Leader: **Thornstar- blue-gray and black tom

**Deputy:** Sandfang- very pale gray tom

**Medicine Cat:** Rainfall- misty gray she-cat

**Warriors:**

Flamepelt- gold she-cat with brown eyes

**Apprentice: Waterpaw**

Blackpelt- big black tom

Amberfur- small ginger she-cat

Roseheart- ginger and white she-cat

Breezewhisker- gray tabby tom

**Apprentice: Darkpaw**

Brightwind- light gray she-cat with white paws

Toadleap- spotted tawny tom

**Apprentice: Oakpaw**

**Apprentices:**

Waterpaw- blue-gray she-cat

Darkpaw- black she-cat

Oakpaw- dark tabby tom

**Queens:**

Mossfur- brown she-cat with green eyes **Mate: Toadleap**

Kits: Mousekit, Beekit, Hazelkit, Bloodkit

**Elders:**

Sharpclaw- speckled brown and gold she-cat


	3. HalfClan

**AN: Story time! Oh, and if you have any more ideas for stories, please let me know! These kits will love to hear them! 0_-**

A small gray kit leaned over a moss-rimmed pool, trying to make out her pale gray striped fur in the shallow water. _Do I look like my mother?_ she wondered, _whoever she is?_

"Bloodkit?" At the sound of her name, Bloodkit raised her head and looked around to see Amberfur padding toward her. "Mossfur wants you."

Sighing, Bloodkit stood from her crouch and followed the pretty ginger she-cat to the nursery. Inside, Mousekit was begging for a story along with Beekit. Hazelkit had curled up and looked as though she was sleeping, but Bloodkit knew better. She herself sat quietly until Mossfur gave in to her relentless kits, and they settled down for a story.

"Which one shall I tell you?" she asked them.

"Tell us one we haven't heard yet!" Mousekit mewed, his eyes bright.

"Alright then. I know just the one to tell you." And she began.

"When the clans were first formed, there were only three clans in the forest. They lived peacefully, most of the time, but sometimes two clans would go to war with each other. Sometimes, one clan would win, but sometimes they would each try to make an alliance with the third clan. Well, two against one isn't very fair, is it? That made the clan without all the extra warriors surrender fairly quickly."

Hazelkit had opened her eyes and pricked her ears forward, listening intently. Mousekit and Beekit both had their eyes fixed on their mother. Bloodkit felt a pang. She had no idea who her parents were. She was half clan.

"Finally, after many, many seasons of this, one clan made a proposal: why not have a fourth clan? There was plenty of room between MistClan and CloudClan. They could send some of the cats there.

"'In fact,' the leader of LightningClan suggested, 'how about we send some of the half clan warriors and apprentices to populate this new clan?'

"'We could even allow for cats from different clans to have kits together.' CloudClan's leader meowed. 'Some of the kits could go to the new clan!'

"The other two agreed, and after receiving approval from StarClan, they revised and added to the Warrior Code. In place of, 'A warrior must never with a cat outside his/her clan,' they put, 'In the case of kits born between clans, they will be dealt with as follows:

"For one kit in a litter, that kit will go to HalfClan.

"For two kits in a litter, one kit will go to the clan of the mother, one kit to the clan of the father.

"For three kits in a litter, one kit will go to the clan of the mother, one to the clan of the father, and one to HalfClan." Here, Mossfur paused, as though she was remembering something. Then she shook herself and went on.

"All the leaders agreed that this worked out very well, so they appointed a leader for HalfClan, a former CloudClan warrior whose father was from MistClan. He appointed a deputy, and a spare medicine cat from LightningClan was also sent to the HalfClan. Willing warriors were also found, and HalfClan was born. However, they have always been a few notches lower socially than the other three clans."

The story was finished, but all four kits had a question or five for Mossfur.

"Did that really happen!"

"Was HalfClan really made by the other clans?"

"Are you from two different clans, Mossfur?"

The last question was Bloodkit's. Mossfur looked at her with gentile green eyes.

"Yes, Bloodkit, I am," she replied.

"Am I from two different clans?" Beekit asked eagerly. With a purr, Mossfur shook her head.

"You three are mine and Toadleap's kits. You're full HalfClan."

"That doesn't make sense," Hazelkit protested. She pushed herself to her paws and began washing her face. Mossfur sighed and flicked the tip of her tail.

"Alright, you three," she meowed. "Outside. Time for some fresh air." She bundled all four kits out into the dappled sunshine that flickered over the mossy camp. Bloodkit ran out to play with them, but then she remembered something she had wanted to ask Mossfur about. She redirected her paws and turned around.

"Mossfur?" she mewed, "Did you ever know any of your littermates? Or your mother and father?"

A flash of something Bloodkit couldn't identify passed through the queen's eyes, but was gone in a heartbeat.

"I had four littermates," she meowed softly. "We were separated after our eyes opened. They had each other and I'm sure they don't remember me anymore, but I remember all of them." A wistful expression came over her face.

"Who were they?" Bloodkit couldn't help asking.

"Mudclaw and Grassblade in MistClan, Aspenstripe and Gorsenose in LightningClan." She sighed. "I don't remember my mother. But no matter. Run along and play with Hazelkit and Beekit." She turned to go.

"Who was my mother?" Bloodkit blurted out the question that had been on her mind all morning. Mossfur paused and looked at her.

"I don't know, Bloodkit," she meowed. "Your father brought you to me."

Heart pounding, Bloodkit asked one final question. "What clan was he from?"

"MistClan." And with that, Mossfur padded away.

**AN: Hope you enjoyed this one! R&R, pleases! ^-^**


	4. Battle!

**AN: Sorry this took so long! Only one computer and it's hard to get on a lot. :3**

**Whoa, Mosspelt! Slow down, you'll find out before too long… :D**

Bloodkit rolled around in one of the rare patches of grass just outside HalfClan's mossy camp. Just that morning, Sharpclaw had told her and the other kit's a story of a cat Spiderstar, who had been corrupted by his power as leader and made the clans fight bloody battles based on the lies he had spread. She imagined she was fighting him; if she didn't win, she would be killed before she could say 'fresh-kill.'

Rolling to her paws, Bloodkit hissed at her opponent and pounced. Her claws tore at his fur and bloodied her claws. She jumped back as he reared up, terrifying and huge. Undaunted, the brave Bloodkit hurtled herself into him, taking advantage of her small size. This knocked the wind out of both of them, and she struggled to get up while Spiderstar was still out of breath. She pounced again, aiming for the throat, but he easily threw her off. She landed in a patch of grass under a bush.

Once on her feet, Bloodkit crouched between the leaves and waited for him to come closer. Spiderstar strode over, and she leaped at him before he could sniff her out. But she had miscalculated the distance, and landed harmlessly a few mouse-lengths from his paws. He raised his claws and batted her away before she had time to regain her balance. She landed with an _oomph!_ on a particularly hard patch of moss. While she lay there, waiting for her breath to return, she heard Mossfur and her kits returning from wherever they had got to while she was busy fighting Spiderstar. She sprang to her feet and looked about for them.

"Bloodkit! There you are!" Mousekit raced over to her. "You won't believe what we saw! A squirrel!" he went on, not waiting for her to guess. "Chasing another squirrel!"

Bloodkit's eyes widened. "Wow! I wish I could have been there!"

Hazelkit padded up softly beside her brother. "What were you doing, Bloodkit?" she asked with a hint of a sneer. "You're all dirty."

Holding back a hiss, Bloodkit glowered at her denmate. "I was busy," she replied and turned back towards camp, flicking her tail lazily in what she hoped was Hazelkit's direction.

It wasn't until she was entering the nursery that she realized her ear was bleeding.

**AN: Sorry it's short; the next one is longer. ;3**


	5. Dark Forest

**AN: Sorry, updates are a little slow… computer problems. :P Anyway, I'll try to do better IF I know people are reading this one. Soooo…review? I would like some feedback on this story! Review! Pleases!**

"Until you have earned your warrior name, you will be known as Bloodpaw." Thornstar's yowl rang out across the mossy clearing. Bloodpaw stood beside Mousepaw, Hazelpaw, and Beepaw, who had already been named before her. Their mentors stood before them, proud and strong. But when Bloodpaw turned her gaze up to meet Brightwind's, she saw a flicker of fear-or was it dread?- in the warrior's eyes. But it passed in a moment.

"I'm so glad I'm your mentor, Bloodpaw," she meowed, her voice faltering before Bloodpaw's name. "I'm sure we'll get along great."

Bloodpaw, herself, felt rather annoyed. Most of the cats in HalfClan hesitated to say her name. She knew why, of course; normal kits had names like 'birch' and 'saffron,' but she had to have 'Bloodpaw.' _Why can't they just get over it?_ she thought angrily to herself. _I've been here since I was a kit, for StarClan's sake!_ But all she replied was, "I hope so."

Thornstar leaped onto the high boulder. "Tonight is a gathering," he yowled. "Blackpelt, Firepelt, Roseheart, Hazelpaw, Brightwind, and Bloodpaw, I would like you to come." He jumped down again and Bloodpaw felt a rush of excitement to replace her exasperation. She was going to a gathering! She bounded over to a small pool- no more than a puddle, really- and began washing her face in preparation. She frowned at the way her fur stuck out to the sides at her neck and tried to straiten it.

"The gathering isn't till tonight," Brightwind's meow sounded behind her. Bloodpaw spun around.

"But it takes a long time to flatten my fur," she protested. The gray she-cat let out a purr and flicked her ear with her tail-tip.

"You look fine, Bloodpaw," she meowed, this time without the pause. "I like the way your fur does that. It gives you a unique look."

Bloodpaw tipped her head to the side and considered this. She _was_ the only cat whose fur stuck out at her scruff, in HalfClan anyway. "I guess," she replied, still not entirely convinced. But she didn't feel like arguing just then, so she padded to the apprentice den and peered in. three nests lay neatly in the center, leaving room nearer the edges for the newer apprentices. She slipped all the way in and scraped together some of the ever-present moss to make a soft nest to the side. Then she stepped into it and tried it out. She kneaded it with her claws a bit to make it softer in some spots and curled up. It was so comfortable she lay in it for quite a while, and would've fallen asleep if Hazelpaw hadn't entered at that moment.

"Oh! There you are Bloodpaw," she meowed. To Bloodpaw's sleepy ears, her voice was high and annoying. "I was looking for you so we could choose where to put our nests before the gathering, but I see you've already done that."

Bloodpaw could hear her den mate scraping together moss nearby, and tried to ignore it. She was so sleepy. At length, she drifted off in a deep, dreamless sleep. So when she did dream, it startled her.

A forest loomed up out of the blackness. The trees were dark, and no stars brightened the sky. Bloodpaw looked around for something familiar, but she had never been very far out of the camp, and hadn't seen mush of the territory yet. All she knew was that this was not HalfClan territory, for no moss blanketed the ground.

"Well, well, well, who have we here?" Branches rustled and a large tom slid out of the bracken to Bloodpaw's left. "A kit that strayed too far from her mother?"

"I don't have a mother," Bloodpaw replied instinctively. "And I'm an apprentice," she added, holding here head up proudly. The tom purred in amusement as if she was just a kit playing warrior.

"That makes all the difference," he meowed mockingly. Bloodpaw bristled.

"I'm just small, alright!" she hissed. "I just had my apprentice ceremony." She spun around and started to stalk away, but the tom padded up beside her.

"You're HalfClan." It wasn't a question, so Bloodpaw merely flicked her tail and kept going. "What's your name?"

"Bloodpaw." She drew out the first part of her name, hoping he would flinch, and was not disappointed. "And yours?"

"Riverspots," he meowed after a pause. "From MistClan. What clan's are you really from?" His green eyes shone with interest. Bloodpaw felt like hissing.

"How should I know? I've been there my entire life. Like I said, I don't have a mother." She tried to walk faster to get away from Riverspots, but he easily matched her pace.

"You're mother died, then," he meowed, stating a fact rather then asking a question. "And your father gave you to HalfClan. It's happened before," he added at her startled look. "My mother's LightingClan. I never knew my littermates."

Bloodpaw couldn't imagine this cat in HalfClan, and was very glad he'd had siblings to go there for him.

"Well, I have a gathering to go to tonight, so I should be going now," she told him. Riverspots purred and twitched his many long whiskers.

"Alright then," he meowed. "But I'll see you later." The forest began to dissolve around them, Riverspots the last to go. Bloodpaw awoke with a jolt, feeling a paw prodding her side. She blinked up at Hazelpaw.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," she was meowing, "it's time to go!"

Pushing herself to her feet and shaking scraps of moss from her fur, Bloodpaw followed her denmate out into the camp. The cats going to the gathering had gathered around Thornstar. As soon as the two apprentices emerged, their leader yowled and they padded out of the camp. Bloodpaw hurried to catch up.

Thornstar led them through HalfClan territory that looked the same to Bloodpaw as anywhere else in the forest; trees, moss, and green. At length, however, she scented something else-a breeze was blowing the scent of cats from her right. She guessed there were a lot of them, judging by the strength of their markers. She maneuvered between her clanmates to walk beside Brightwind.

"Which clan is over there?" she asked, waving her tail in the direction the breeze was blowing from. Brightwind glanced over at it.

"That's MistClan," she meowed. "You'll see them at the gathering. Silverstar is their leader."

At last the ground grew less mossy and they approached a grove of leafy trees that all looked much the same to Bloodpaw. As they entered, she was struck with a chaos of scents that were almost overpowering. But as she went in further, she was able to sort them into three different, major scents. _The other clans,_ she thought, recognizing MistClan.

In the center was a small clearing, just big enough for the cats gathered in it. A boulder much like the one in HalfClan rested on one end, except this one was bigger. When the other three clans saw them enter, a silver tabby leaped up onto the boulder, her eyes shining in the full moon's light.

"Let the gathering begin," she yowled.

**AN: Yay! Another chappie up! Please ****please**_**please**_** review!**


	6. Gathering

**AN: Next chappie! Again, ('cause I said this in my other ff) sorry for the wait! Writing homework is EVIL! But now, we can finally find out what happened at the Gathering!**

Bloodpaw watched in anticipation and excitement as the Gathering began.

"MistClan is prospering," Silverstar yowled. She had a deep meow that carried well over the clearing. "Frostleaf has had three new kits-Leopardkit, Foxkit, and Harekit. We have plenty of prey, and our borders are well defended." She cast her gaze around the clearing, her eyes holding the warning she hadn't spoken aloud. Swiftstar replaced Silverstar's lingering silence with her own voice.

"CloudClan has plenty of prey and warriors, as well," the tawny brown she-cat meowed. "We found a fox on our territory, but we managed to chase it off." She flexed her claws. "It won't be bothering us again."

Thornstar stood to speak next, but Otterstar cut him off.

"LightningClan has a new queen," she meowed. "Two of the kits, Swiftstar, belong to CloudClan. You may come and collect them at your leisure."

Swiftstar nodded.

"There were five in the litter, so one is also your's, Thornstar." Otterstar's mew turned cold. "We will bring the kit to you once the other two have been taken to CloudClan."

Thornstar nodded. "Very well. HalfClan will be ready."

Otterstar nodded and leapt down from the boulder. The other two leaders who had already spoken followed. Thornstar lashed his tail in annoyance, but stood and jumped down a well.

"Why didn't he say anything?" Bloodpaw asked Brightwind. Her mentor's eyes shone with anger.

"They do this almost every gathering!" she hissed, fur bristling. "They think they're _better_ than us because we're half-clan." She began muttering to herself.

Bloodpaw heard heavy pawsteps behind her, but before she could look around, a tom pushed past her.

"Excuse me-" he stopped when he saw her. His eyes seemed to fill with anger and resentment, and Bloodpaw tried to shrink away from him. With a growl, he stalked past her, tail lashing. Bloodpaw bristled slightly.

"Who's that?" she hissed softly. Brightwind's eyes were wide. She didn't seem to have heard Bloodpaw at first, but then she shook herself.

"He's from MistClan," she meowed. "He probably just caught your scent." She laid her tail across Bloodpaw's shoulders in a comforting gesture. "Come on. Our clan is leaving."

Bloodpaw obediently followed her clanmates back out of the clearing and back into HalfClan territory. She turned the events of the gathering over and over in her head; the new half-clan kit, the other leaders not allowing Thornstar to speak, and the MistClan tom's eyes when her saw her. Brightwind knew why that tom had looked at her that way, but she wasn't going to tell her. Bloodpaw would have to find out from someone else. Perhaps Amberfur, or Breezewhisker would tell her. Except… _Mousedung! I don't know his name!_

Later, curled up in her nest, Bloodpaw dreamed of the story of Spiderstar. But instead of hearing all his dark deeds in the safe confines of the nursery, she saw them. She wanted to close her eyes against the bloody sight-the battles, the murders, and finally, the death of Spiderstar himself - but she couldn't, and when she woke, trembling and gasping for breath, she had a deep sense that she had forgotten something very, very important.

**AN: So, I know it's not as long as it could be, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review! I need a certain number of reviews before I update again, but I'm not going to tell you how many. Soooooo… review!**


	7. Prophecy

**AN: I wanna to know what you guys think of this story. More reviews = more, and faster, updates! So review! Tell me how much you love it! Or hate, as the case may be for some of you.**

**Anyway, here's the chapter. Hope you enjoy!**

Bloodpaw whirled around and leaped at her mentor, her paws grazing Brightwind's side as the she-cat dodged. She felt the prick of claws at the base of her tail, and hissed.

"You're still two slow," Brightwind meowed. "You rely on strength more than speed, but both are important, especially since we're HalfClan. We don't have any one strength or weakness passed down over the generations. So, come at me again, like you mean it!"

Bloodpaw charged again, focusing on pushing herself forward as fast as possible. This time, she saw Brightwind's paws moving as if in slow motion, and redirected herself as well, crashing into her mentor with enough force to send them rolling over the moss covered forest floor and into a tree. Bloodpaw felt the breath knocked out of her, and she gasped, unable to move. Brightwind recovered first and shoved Bloodpaw off of her.

"What was that?" she panted. "No control, no technique-there's hardly any situation in which that much momentum would be useful! What if I were a SkyClan, or MistClan warriors? You would be dead right about now!" She turned away. Bloodpaw got to her feet.

"Sorry," she mumbled, though she wasn't really. She was pleased with herself for being able to run so fast and catch Brightwind off-guard.

The gray she-cat sighed. "I think that's enough training for today, anyhow." She began walking in the direction of the camp. Bloodpaw hesitated.

"I'm going to go hunting, if you don't mind," she called after her mentor. Brightwind waved her tail in response. Once she was gone, Bloodpaw turned around. "I was wondering where you were."

Riverspots slid out from behind a tree. "I've been here this whole time. She's right; you do rely on strength too much."

Bloodpaw waved that away with a flick of her tail. "Never mind that now," she meowed irritably. "I don't care about that. Show that move again!"

For the past half-moon, Riverspots had been showing her battle moves and telling her strategies that, as he said, no one else knew of. He said she could be the greatest warrior there ever was. But this time he shook his head.

"You told your mentor you'd be hunting." He waved his tail in the direction of an abandoned twoleg nest. "Better get to it."

Grumbling, Bloodpaw stalked away, not in the mood for arguing with him. She soon came upon the twoleg nest, and was about to slip inside through a hole in the wall when she heard voices. Someone was already here, and they weren't catching prey. She peered inside to see who t was.

Thornstar and Rainfall were sitting with their backs to her, talking quietly, though Bloodpaw was close enough to hear them if she strained her ears.

"…prophecy from StarClan!" Rainfall was saying. "We were all told the same thing. I think something bad is gong to happen, something involving all four clans!"

"Calm down, Rainfall," Thornstar meowed. "What was the prophecy?"

The gray medicine cat took a deep breath. "They told me, 'Blood will tear the forest apart.' Do you think they meant-"

"Lets not jump to conclusions," Thornstar cut her off. "It could mean anything, for all we know. Did they tell you anything else?"

"Yes. 'Beware of the Blood Warrior.'"

Both cats were quiet for a long time. Bloodpaw felt her legs growing stiff. She was itching to stretch, but was afraid that if she so much as twitched a whisker, they would hear her. And she wanted to heard more.

"It's almost certainly her, then," Thornstar meowed softly. "She must never become a warrior."

Suddenly, Bloodpaw knew who they were talking about, and she didn't want to hear another word. She shot off into the forest, grateful, for once, of the moss that covered everything, and muffled her pawsteps. She dug her claw into the ground to go faster. Before long, she realized that she wasn't alone. Riverspots was running beside her. Abruptly, she turned on him.

"You!" she yowled. "You knew they would be there! You knew they were talking about me!"

"I thought you deserved to know," he counted, growling when she leaped at him, claws unsheathed. "They're never gong to make you a warrior, do you realize that?"

She leaped at him again. "I WILL be a warrior! I don't care what you, or Thornstar, or anyone else says! I will be a warrior!"

Letting out a final growl, Riverspots disappeared, presumably going back to the Dark Forest. Bloodpaw stood panting for a few moments longer, then stalked through the forest, ripping up moss and leaving a trail of exposed dirt in her wake.

When at last Bloodpaw returned to the camp, she found that Thornstar and Rainfall had already returned ahead of her. She quickly composed herself. She couldn't let them know that she knew about the prophecy, or that it was about her. She padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Brightwind came over just as she was selecting a plump water vole from the pile.

"You didn't catch anything," she meowed. "No eating until you do."

Bloodpaw raised her head in annoyance. "I _know_ that," she replied. "This is for Sharpclaw, while I check her for ticks. You told me you wanted it done, right?"

Brightwind was visibly taken aback, and only nodded. With a flick of her tail, Bloodpaw padded away to the elders den, a hollow sheltered by a mossy boulder. Sharpclaw, currently the only elder in HalfClan, was lounging in the sun outside her den. The sun made her speckled brown and gold fur glow, despite its dullness. Bloodpaw set the vole down in front of her.

"Are you hungry?" she meowed. Sharpclaw opened her eyes and eyed the vole.

"Starving," she grumbled in reply. "I was just beginning to consider going to the fresh-kill pile myself to pick me a nice plump vole, but I see you've saved me the trouble." She scooted forward to sink her teeth into the fresh-kill. Bloodpaw shifted her weight, suddenly nervous about asking the question that had been eating at her for the past half moon.

"Sharpclaw," she began carefully, "do you remember the story of Spiderstar?"

The old she-cat glanced up. "Everyone does. It's not just an old nursery story, it really happened."

"Would you tell it to me again? I think I…forgot part of it."

With a deep sigh, Sharpclaw lay back. "Alright, but it will have to be quick. I'm almost asleep from that vole, and this sun…" She shook herself awake as Bloodpaw settled down next to her. "Where to begin… well, Spidertooth, later Spiderstar, was a ruthless and cruel warrior. He didn't mind the warrior code, and schemed his way to leadership. Once he had nine lives, there was almost no way to defeat him. He ruled the forest for many seasons with fear and bloodshed.

"Then, when he had only three of his lives left, his medicine cat died. There was no apprentice to take his place, so one had to be taken from another clan. Her name was Willowstep, and she was not afraid of Spiderstar.

"Soon after Willowstep arrived, Spiderstar grew sick, with white cough. Willowstep knew of a battle that would take place soon, and Spiderstar wanted her to make him well again in time for it. There was no way he could heal naturally in time, so she gave him death berries. He was so enraged after he died and came back that he ordered her to be killed.

"In the battle, only a few sunrises later, Spiderstar lost his last two lives. The first was because he was still weak from the berries, and the second, because he was overconfident from all his past lives ensuring that he would never die. To this day, Willowstep is considered a hero for what she did."

Sharpclaw closed her eyes. "Now go away and let me take a nap."

But there was one more thing Bloodpaw wanted to ask her. "Who was it that killed Willowstep, if Spiderstar didn't?"

"His loyal apprentice," the old she-cat murmured. "Riverspots."

**AN: Shock! Aaaaaaand… a plushie of your choice to anyone who reviews! Or a cookie, if you like.**


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